Former student activist Chung Han-lam was sentenced to four months in jail. 19-year-old Chung was charged with destroying the Chinese flag and unlawful assembly at the Legislative Council demonstration area in Hong Kong last May, the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court ruled Tuesday (Dec. 29).
West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court Judge Wong Ah-yan sentenced Chung to three months in jail for insulting the national flag, taking into account the plea made by the defense, the short time frame of the offence and the lack of evidence of premeditation.
Earlier, the Hong Kong Eastern Magistrates’ Court ruled on Dec. 11 that Chung was guilty of insulting the national flag and unlawful assembly and remanded him until Dec. 29 for sentencing.
Chung destroyed a Chinese flag during a dispute with members of the pro-China group “Defend Hong Kong Campaign” in the Legislative Council demonstration area on May 14 last year. The charge was that Chung took the initiative to grab the five-star flag and broke the flag pole, then threw the flag into the air, which was an act of intentional insult.
In addition, the magistrate pointed out in his verdict that the defendant was convicted of insulting the national flag and unlawful assembly because in the process of snatching the five-star flag, the defendant and others had a common purpose to assemble and act in a disorderly manner.
Chung was also charged with violating Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law and money laundering. Chung was arrested by plainclothes police in late October this year after he was allegedly denied access to the U.S. Consulate to seek asylum. He was later arrested and charged with violating Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law and money laundering, and was denied bail by the court. The court denied him bail. The case will be re-tried on Jan. 7 next year. Chung was one of the first people to be charged with “inciting secession” after the implementation of Hong Kong’s national security law in late June.
“The Students’ Motivation Movement is a student organization founded by Chung after the 2014 Occupy Central Movement, which advocates for Hong Kong’s independence. Chung led members of the group to march in the streets several times during last year’s anti-China movement.
After the implementation of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law on June 30 this year, Chung announced that Student Action ceased all operations in Hong Kong, disbanded all members of the organization, and handed over all organizational affairs to Student Action’s overseas branches, and continued to support the promotion of Hong Kong’s independence.
On the other hand, the Beijing central government’s harsh crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong has caused more and more pro-democracy activists to flee the city.
Various media outlets have reported that Hong Kong police have recently arrested some 30 Hong Kong people wanted overseas under Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law. They include former legislators Hui Chi-fung and Leung Chung-hang, former spokesman of the Hong Kong Tertiary Education Sector Delegation for International Affairs Cheung Kun-yang, and Leung Kit-ping, who participated in the occupation of the Legislative Council on the night of July 1 last year and issued the “Hong Kong People’s Protest Manifesto”.
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